Page 129 of Rival

“I bet!” she laughs out, then sighs. “I love that story. Do you think she’s going to do anything funny like that?” Her hand rubs over her stomach, and she looks down in wonder.

“If she ends up belonging to Fin, you can count on it,” Mason teases, then feigns shock when Griffin smacks him on the arm lightly. I hadn’t seen him come into the room, but I’m glad they were both here to listen to Edith’s laughter.

She inhales sharply through her nose, then drops her head down, face hidden behind her hair. “Another one,” is all she can grit out, so I check my timer and see we’re at about six minutes since her last one.

We wait silently, but on edge as she breathes through it. As soon as she relaxes, Griffin and Mason are moving in a flurry. “How much time since the last one?” Griffin asks as Mason bites out, “Where’s her bag we packed? It has everythin’ in it. I’ll put it in the truck.”

“Guys,” she says gently. “It’s not a real contraction.”

Tilting my head to the side, I study her and give her a sympathetic smile. “Sweetheart, I think that was. We’ll time out a few more, but if they’re coming like this, I think we need to getyou to the hospital sooner rather than later. When did you call your doctor?”

“This morning,” she whispers, her anxiety picking up as she realizes she mightactuallybe in labor.

Picking up my phone again, I hit the number for the Labor and Delivery department I had programmed in months ago, then fill in the nurse who answers. Listening, I jot down a few notes and share with everyone what she said.

“Okay, so they said we’re looking for contractions between four to six minutes that are regularly coming on. For now, if we aren’t sure, she wants you to lie on the couch or bed with your feet up and keep sipping water. Main thing she said was that if you couldn’t talk through a contraction or your water breaks, we need to head in immediately.”

“Water sounds good,” she breathes out, then holds her hands out for me to stand. I keep an arm around her as she slowly makes her way toward the living room, but right before she leaves the kitchen, she pauses and looks down.

All of our eyes fly to where she’s looking, and I see a trickle of fluid running down the inside of her leg.

“Is that…” I ask her, tightening my hold on her shoulders.

She glances up at me with fear and panic. “I felt a pop.”

“I’ll grab her bag,” Mason hollers, already running into the bedroom.

Griffin hurries over to stand in front of her. Taking her face in his hands, he grins widely, then presses a hard and fast kiss to her lips.

“Okay, darlin’. We’re gonna do this thing, yeah?”

Nodding with her face still pressed between his palms, lips puckered, she sucks in a harsh breath to stem her emotions. Then she’s shaking her head no with conviction. “No, I c-can’t.” It comes out broken and I can’t stand her worry anymore.

Turning her to me, I wrap my arms around her and murmur, “We got you, baby. It’ll all be worth it and we’reallhere for every moment. I love you so much and I can’t wait to meet her.”

Whispering after Griffin slips away to start the truck, her voice cracks when she asks, “Will you love her even if she ends up not being yours?”

“I’ll love her just as much as I do you. Don’t let that be a worry right now. I’ll show you after.” I kiss her softly, letting my tongue peek out to taste her lip, wanting more of her, but I know we’ve got to go. “I want it all with you.”

She takes a shaky breath, then lets me help her to the truck with Mason following behind, a pink suitcase in his hand.

Fuck, we’re about to have a fucking baby.

Chapter Fifty-Five

Mason

39 weeks and 2 days – Birth Day

I’m not sure what the fuck happened, but it only took the drive from Jaxon’s house to the hospital for Edith to progress to the point where she was gripping the handle on the ceiling of the truck and crying from the pain, her contractions seemingly coming one on top of another.

“We need a room, likerightthe fucknow,” I bark at the first nurse I see. Edith is being walked in between Jaxon and Griffin, who’s forever got his hand holding her stomach. He tried to explain why he does it, but it didn’t make sense to me. But if she likes it, I’m on board for him to keep doing it.

A low moan escapes her as she stops to lean forward, pulling her arms from theirs and bracing her hands on her thighs. The nurse behind the counter widens her eyes and looks at me.

“Now!”

Thankfully, she gets up and runs into the back and within minutes we’re being shepherded to the back. The room they’ve stuck us in is large enough for everyone to be able to stand at herside while also allowing the doctor and nurses to move around with plenty of space.